


Broken Windows and Ashes

by musiquetta



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Medieval, F/F, Witch Hunt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-30
Updated: 2014-12-30
Packaged: 2018-03-04 09:59:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3063641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/musiquetta/pseuds/musiquetta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On a supply run for her mother's inn, Jo meets a young girl with a haunted look in her eyes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Broken Windows and Ashes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [huntuer (tuffbeifong)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tuffbeifong/gifts).



> This was super fun to write! Thanks to [huntuer](http://annaharvelle.co.vu/) for the prompt.
> 
> The title is taken from 'Prayer of the Refugee' from Rise Against!

The late summer sun was a blessing for Jo's sore legs as she rested in the shadows at the edge of the forest. Her journey had been taxing and was far from over.  
  
Angrily she looks at the bundle of supplies lying on the ground next to Billy, her trusted horse grazing the weeds nearby. If only the bags weren't so heavy she wouldn't be so tired with barely a thought to spare for anything besides rest and sleep and feather beds and warm relaxing baths.  
  
But her mother's inn needed the spices and foreign wine to entertain their illustrious clientèle, and they needed the more obscure items to fulfill the secret calling they shared with said guests: to protect those that were ignorant of the terrors of the night.  
  
Absentmindedly she scratched her hair under the cap she used to hide her long, blond hair. Along with the wide shirt and the ragged trousers, barely anyone she met could tell she was not a hapless farm boy out on an errand. Heavy lifting and rough sleeping aside, it was almost like a vacation.  
  
A vacation from nagging mothers and overbearing family members, honorary or not – out here, she breathed easily, knowing that all she could rely on was herself and the trusted knife she had safely stashed in her boot.  
  
The forest around her groaned and a whiff of cold air shook her – she must have dozed off. Voices rang in her ears, moving towards her.  
With a snarl on her face, she jumped to her feet, pulling the knife from her boot, facing the trees ahead from where the noise and faint torch light approached.  
  
Billy was nervous; she could tell from the way he was prancing. She willed her rapidly beating heart into submission.  
  
Three men, faces red with exertion, burst through the trees. Jo tensed.  
  
Their purpose was obvious, almost comically so, the manic gleam in their eyes tells all about their purpose; before her stood men on a mission from their God, or so they would claim.  
  
“You there, boy.” their leader grunted and Jo broadened her shoulders, her expression hard and grim to keep up her deception in the twilight of the ending day. “Have you seen a young girl pass, would've been in a hurry, red long hair and a torn dress?”  
  
Jo's jaw clenches. Often enough she had joined in the mocking of these types; blinded by their hate and driven by their sense of superiority they made an easy target to mock in the candlelight that lit their merry rounds of women defying everything these men stood for every moment they spent outside the confines of their home – but even as a girl she had never missed the glint of fear lingering in her companions' eyes even as they had laughed at men such as those befor her.  
   
She had grown up knowing what these men were capable of.  
  
She grit her teeth. “What's it to you?“ she said, in her best country boy voice, pitch deep and matching the accent their leader seemed prone to.  
  
“That's none of your business.“ their leader grunted. „All you gotta know is we're looking for her. The men approached and Jo eyed them warily – but even as she did, she noticed.  
  
At the edge of the clearing the dust has been kicked up, behind these men there a couple of twigs were broken, far from where they had violated the undergrowth.  
  
“Can't say I have.“ Jo said, shrugging, resisting the urge to pick up the trail leading past and through her little camp. There would be time for that when she had gotten rid of the pursuers.  
  
The leader grunted. ”If you do see her, tie her up and look for us, we'll reward you. It'd be a pity if she missed her own burning.” he said in a grim tone before he disappeared after the others.  
  
Jo shuddered as they were swallowed by the forest.  
  
Another look at the marks on the ground lets her thank for the tracking skills Uncle Bobby had insisted on. There is a steep rock face, extending into the woods.  
  
She took a few hesitant steps towards the rocks before clearing her throat.  
  
“If you're still there,“ she said, making an effort to pitch her voice normally as opposed to the deeper voice she had used earlier. ”you should know that I will not harm you. It's the least I can do after you left me my horse and my life.“ She turned to leave, before stilling to speak over her shoulder. “And if you promise to never tell a soul that I feel asleep like a well-fed baby, I will see that you eat well tonight.”  
  
She left it at that.  Had she been chased by a band of self righteous men, she wouldn't really trust anyone anytime soon, so barging into the forest would be a bad move. She trod back to her makeshift bed and sat by the burnt down fire.  
  
She busied herself with stoking the fire again, to get a small dinner ready, straining her ears to see if maybe she would have company tonight. Either way she would put effort into her food tonight; if she had to sleep under the stars, even if that was her own fault, good food was the least she could do for herself.  
  
She pulled off her hat, letting down her hair, and sighed as the faint wind caressed her scalp. And who knew, maybe she wouldn't eat alone tonight.  
  
The last of the meat she had purchased in town was sizzling in the pan as she heard the first rustle of leaves behind her. She only froze momentarily before moving the meat from the pan to her plate, taking out her knife to cut the meat in half.  
  
Slowly, the rustling grew louder until the first footstep sounded behind her.  
  
Jo set out her bowl and put half the meat in it, along with a piece of bread. Her stomach growled and she dug in.  
  
“You know,” she teased between two bites. “it tastes better while it's warm.” There's an intake of breath, one that might have been a laugh in a brighter time?  
  
Tentatively, Jo turned her head and met gentle eyes for the first time. Somehow, despite her ragged appearance and haunted face, the girl managed a smile.  
  
Jo patted the space right next to her and her guest came, sat down close to her.  
  
Leaves were tangled in her red hair and her dress was dirtied and torn and her hands were shaking as she reached for the bowl Jo had set aside for her. She moved to eat, then stopped and turned to look at Jo.  
  
“I – ” she started, voice raw, unused. “Thank you. For your kindness.”  
  
Jo smiled in sympathy. ”Like I said, you started the kindness when you did not take advantage earlier. Can I take your presence here as a sign that you won't be telling anyone of my transgressions?”  
  
The girl smiled and nodded. “Your secret is safe with me.”  
  
“Eat.” Jo encouraged her. “You must be hungry.”  
  
The girl scarfed down the humble meal Jo had prepared. Her shoulders were still shaking.  
  
Jo stood and went to get one of her blankets and some logs from her supplies.  
  
“I'm used to the cold. I forget how it affects others.” she said as she dropped the logs, unfolded the blanket, holding it with a question in her eyes. Her guest smiled and straightened her shoulders as Jo slid the blanket around her.  
  
“Thank you.” the girl whispered and set the empty bowl beside, grabbing the blanket to draw it tighter.  
  
”My name is Jo. Who are you?“ Jo said as she handed the girl her waterskin.  
  
“Anna.” the girl says. “I’m a healer, a herbalist, from Milton, a little village upstream.” She scoffs. “Or, I was, until a few days ago. I’m not even sure how many it has been since I've started running.“  
  
“What happened?”  
  
Anna dropped her eyes, wrung her hands.  
  
“I am not one wrong word away from chasing you myself, if that is what troubles you.”  
  
Anna smiled wryly. “Are you sure? You do not know why I have done – why these men were chasing me?”  
  
“No, I don't.” Jo said. “But since you neither cut my throat nor escaped on my horse when I was out cold, I hardly think you are cold-blooded – and I also know that sometimes ill things happen to good people, but if you want to put my mind to rest, I will not stop you.”  
  
“You saved my life by hiding me from these men. I suppose I owe you the truth.”  
  
“You owe me silence on the matter of that dreadful blunder; that is the bargain we struck and it is the only one I will hold you to.” Jo said, grinning.  
  
Anna smiled. “Still, I will not ask your hospitality and be so callous in return.”  
  
Anna frowned, biting her lip in fear.  
  
“Perhaps,” Jo said, standing up. “some wine is in order. I brought it from the city, it's really good.”  
  
“I couldn't ask that of you.”  
  
Jo shrugged. “Well, I'm beat, I want a drink, and drinking alone makes you ugly.  
  
“Drinking alone makes you ugly?” Anna asked, taking the cup Jo was handing her.  
  
“That's what my mom says when she catches Uncle Bobby at her whiskey – and two pretty girls like us should just not risk it.” Jo said, winking.  
  
Anna took a sip from the wine, then another, before sighing deeply. Jo let her gather herself, finishing the last bites of her meal and getting comfortable against the tree trunk she had been resting against.  
  
“My father was a priest,” she finally said, staring into the distance. “and my mother was a healer. She taught me everything I know.  
  
“Before … everything, there was a young boy. He was feverish and I was treating him. He was getting better, but in the middle of the night, his father banged on our door and the boy – the boy was cold when I got there. He had died sometime earlier.”  
  
“I'm sorry to hear that,” Jo said. “but they can hardly blame you for that.”  
  
“It is not for his death that I was chased, but for what happened after.” Anna took a deep breath and took another sip of wine. “Overcome with grief, I put my hand on his forehead, like I had done so many times before and then – I can't explain it and dread still overcomes me when I think of it. My hand, it … tingled, and there was this light coming out of my palm and then – the boy was breathing.”  
  
Jo raised her eyebrows. “And you're sure he was dead before?”  
  
Anna nodded. “He was as cold as stone. After that everything is blurry. They called me a witch, devils spawn and many other things and I – ” Anna hesitated. “Then I just ran – I don't even know if my parents know I still live.”  
  
“I am no scholar or cleric or anything,” Jo said, after considering what she had just learned. “But did your savior not very much do the same thing once? Wake the dead.”  
  
Anna's head whipped around. “That's blasphemy.”  
  
Jo just shrugged. “I am merely saying – it does not seem like the man upstairs disapproves, considering his son did the same. Either way, you cannot expect me to cast you out for what you did. That boy is alive because of you, and that is something good, if you ask me.”  
  
The struggle was clear on Anna's haggard face. Then she nodded, slowly. “Thank you. I do not think I would have held on much longer. Your kindness is a gift from heaven.”  
  
“Don't mention it.” Jo said, spreading out her blanket on the floor. “I had my sleep, now I'm giving you the chance. I'm keeping watch.”  
  
The girl laid back against rocks behind her, pulling the blankets tight around herself. Jo thought Anna had fallen asleep, until the girl spoke.  
  
“Jo?”  
  
“Hmm?”  
  
“You said 'your savior' … do you not believe?”  
  
“I'm too young to settle down with one man.” Jo quipped. She recognized Anna's disapproving frown from the way her eyebrows drew together. Jo sighed. “I believe a lot. It's hard to explain, but you will see soon enough.”  
  
“Will I?”  
  
“Yes, you will. You're coming with me, aren't you?” Jo asked. “My family knows a lot about what you would call the occult. We use it to, ah, protect people, usually. Together, we can figure out what is happening with you.”  
  
Anna was quiet again. “You would do that for me?” she asked then, voice shaky.  
  
“It is our calling, in a way.” Jo said. “Besides, my mother would have my hide if I left you by the side of the road and she can always tell, if I'm hiding something from her.”  
  
“I don't know what to say. I don't deserve your kindness.”  
  
“Wait with your judgment until you meet my brothers. Then you might think I am actually punishing you; they can be a right pain in the ass.”  
  
Anna chuckled, closing her eyes. “Good night, Jo. Sleep well.”  
  
“You too.”  

**Author's Note:**

> I've got about another 6K of this in a rough draft ~~but it's the H/C deadline~~ but I'm totally planning on expanding this.
> 
> Find me [here](http://cptcarol.tumblr.com/) on tumblr.


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